A datacenter is a facility used to house a collection of computer servers and associated components, typically network hardware. The collection of computer servers is often called a “server cluster” or “server farm,” and is designed to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of a single machine. The networking hardware typically includes network switches and/or routers which enable communication between the different parts of the server farm and the users of the server farm.
Server farms are commonly used for cluster computing, web services, remote data storage, web hosting, and other web services. Server farms are increasingly being used by enterprises instead of, or in addition to, mainframe computers. As the demand for server farms continues to increase, a need exists to limit the cost of operating a datacenter. Often, a large part of the cost of operating a datacenter is related to the datacenter's cooling systems and the total electricity cost. Accordingly, to limit costs from excessive cooling, a space within a datacenter will typically have cooling systems with a maximum capacity corresponding to the heat load expected to be produced by the equipment within that space. However, if the heat load exceeds the expectation (e.g., due to incorrect assumptions about the equipment or due to a later change to equipment that produces a greater heat load), the existing cooling systems may be inadequate and there may be insufficient room where the cooling systems are located to permit expansions to add capacity. This may require the removal of servers until enough heat load is removed that the total heat load is within the capacity of the existing cooling systems and/or may cause other negative effects on the overall operations of the datacenter.